Ticks are known to transmit various pathogens, radically threatening humans and animals. Despite the close contact between ticks and viruses, our understanding on their interaction and biology is still lacking. The aim of this study was to experimentally assess the interaction between canine parvovirus (CPV) and a widely distributed hard tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in laboratory condition....

Ticks are blood feeding arthropod parasites transmitting a wide variety of pathogens to their vertebrate hosts. The vector capability of ticks is tightly linked to their immune system. Ticks can defend themselves against microbial infection with a variety of antimicrobial peptides comprising lysozymes, defensins, and unique molecules not found in other arthropods. Lysozymes are hydrolytic enzym...

Ixodid ticks transmit various pathogens of deadly diseases to humans and animals. However, the specific molecule that functions in the recognition and control of pathogens inside ticks is not yet to be identified. Class B scavenger receptor CD36 (SRB) participates in internalization of apoptotic cells, certain bacterial and fungal pathogens, and modified low-density lipoproteins. Recently, we h...

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease and elderly people living in rural areas have the greatest risk of infection. We report the first pediatric case of SFTS in Korea and the clinical characteristics and disease progression in children. A 10-year-old child from Chonnam province visited the hospital with myalgia and a history of fever over the prev...

Ticks surpass all other ectoparasitic arthropods in the number of diseases they transmit to animals and humans [1]. The hard tick Haemaphysalis is also the primary vector of the pathogens causing babesiosis in humans and domestic animals in Japan [2]. Antimicrobial peptides are a major component of the innate immune system in host defense, which is a well-conserved and evolutionarily ancient me...

OBJECTIVE To assess the public health risk of human infection from a novel bunyavirus - severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) - in China. METHODS The likelihood of disease spread and the magnitude of public health impact were assessed to clarify overall risk. Literature about hazard, exposure and contextual factors associated with SFTSV infection was collected and reviewed...

Vector ticks possess a unique system that enables them to digest large amounts of host blood and to transmit various animal and human pathogens, suggesting the existence of evolutionally acquired proteolytic mechanisms. We report here the molecular and reverse genetic characterization of a multifunctional cysteine protease, longipain, from the babesial parasite vector tick Haemaphysalis longico...